What Needs To Happen For Me To Regain Confidence In Cruising-A Comprehensive Approach

[nbsjcruiser]

3 hours ago, sweetp12 said:

 

 

One of the things that could easily be adopted it what P&O Australia has done.  While they have been heavily criticized for the "food court" feeling of turning the buffet into 9 food stations all the food is served to you and is behind screens.  There is no way anyone can touch the food or utensils that you use.  Cutlery is wrapped in the napkin so unused utensils go back to the kitchen and not back into supply.  

 

I think people would be more ready to accept this mode of serving now, rather than considering it low brow and taking away the largest of a buffet.  Yes it is not ideal - you have to go / queue at multiple places to get food.   Yes they eliminated trays so it can be hard to get multiple items at one time.  Food can be luke warm by the time you get to the table if you go to a number of stations (particularly at breakfast).  But this also means that you don't waste food - as you tend to go to one place then eat and then go to the next. 

 

I would also like to see the hand washing stations become spread throughout all the fleets.  While enforcing hand sanitizing is one thing it actually doesn't work against Noro or Corovirus so is almost creating a false sense of security.  Hand washing while slower and requiring more infrastructure is far more effective across the board for hygiene and illness prevention.  If cruise lines made this a mandatory provision and reconfigured buffets it could show more than just a token nod to taking hygiene seriously. 

 

 

All good points and maybe there might be some ships that toy with the idea of no buffet at all. As you rightfully point out, proper hand hygiene is key. Social distancing is another thought - less tables and chairs in dining rooms, buffets and other venues maybe? The pool deck would be fun to try and implement social distancing on. I still think that for me to be comfortable on a cruise ship, a vaccine is going to need to be  implemented. I  cant see myself enjoying a cruise until then. In fact, I cant even see myself on a plane until a vaccine is widely available. Either that or this thing has circled around the world 2 or 3 times like the Spanish Flu and has petered out as those infected developed immunity or (sadly) died. The problem with that approach is that Covid wont be so easily killed off without a vaccine due to the mobile society we live in today compared to 100 years ago.

[pris993]

12 hours ago, charmed1959 said:

The change in transportation rules did throw them for a loop, but there are a few things they could have done.

 

They could communicate.  They could send twice daily updates of what passengers left and how many healthy passengers are waiting for planes, just so people still on board know they are not alone.  They could explain the ambulances, if there are ill passengers or crew it would be nice to hear from the captain rather than find out on the internet.

 

 If there are really only 287 left on board they could set the front desk with help to call every party and make sure they are sending them to the right place.  They may find people are flexible, and will fly into different airport than they flew out of, and that would help consolidate charters.  They may find some people left a car at the airport, or have friends that will drop their car at the airport, so they don’t need chauffeured rides to their homes.  And best of all, everyone left on board know they were not forgotten.

 

They could return their luggage.  Give them a few hours to repack.  Yep, that means they need to spray down the luggage again, but at least people are leaving with clean clothes.

 

Won’t get them home faster, but won’t take anymore time, and won’t cost much money to make people feel like they care.

Where you on board?    

Like you say these suggestions would not get folks home sooner, I am sure staff were focused on taking care of passenger basic needs and getting them home as soon as possible.

In this kind of situation - I would think, if I was one of the passengers, I have two choices, to see the situation I am in - as "glass half full" or to see as "glass half empty".    I choose to see it as "half full".  

[subaru94]

On 4/3/2020 at 1:33 AM, ECCruise said:

Saw this on Azamara Quest recently.  You either sanitized your hands or were denied entry to the buffet area.  And patrolled by someone with authority.  Watched them make people turn around and have to leave.

Yes agree much stricter guidelines in regards to washing hands before entering buffet, Princess have not been the best in this area in comparison to either cruise lines.

[gmjc2]

We would not want to lose our buffet!! We are not into dressing up even a little and do not enjoy waiters fussing over us. I like to chose my own food. 

 

They just need to make hand washing MANDATORY and enforce it! Also police the lines more to catch disgusting people who touch food and or drop spoons and put them back in the food!!

 

Maureen.

Edited April 10, 2020 by gmjc2

[bookmama22]

How about eliminating buffets entirely? Personally, I have been on 6 cruises and have never had a meal at the buffet on any of them: Celebrity, Holland America, Princes or Norwegian. I barely  go to the buffet only for breakfast on disembarkation day to pick up a quick cup of coffee and have only had some salad from salad bar at the buffet for lunch. 

[mammajamma2013]

1 hour ago, bookmama22 said:

How about eliminating buffets entirely? Personally, I have been on 6 cruises and have never had a meal at the buffet on any of them: Celebrity, Holland America, Princes or Norwegian. I barely  go to the buffet only for breakfast on disembarkation day to pick up a quick cup of coffee and have only had some salad from salad bar at the buffet for lunch. 

I'd prefer not to see that happen. There are a lot of us who do prefer the buffet at times. It's nice to have the option of a sit-down meal or a quick buffet meal.

 

I agree with gmjc2's suggestions in post #104 above.

[drowelf]

On 4/10/2020 at 5:13 PM, mammajamma2013 said:

I'd prefer not to see that happen. There are a lot of us who do prefer the buffet at times. It's nice to have the option of a sit-down meal or a quick buffet meal.

 

I agree with gmjc2's suggestions in post #104 above.

I don't think the buffets should go away. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood for a long sit down dinner, especially after a long day ashore. I know of quite a few cruisers who only do the buffer and never go to the MDR. How many folks actually use the MDR for breakfast and lunch. What about the officers and hotel staff that I always see eating in the buffet. There would have to be another crew mess somewhere for them to eat if there was no buffer. I know the crew has their own mess, but it also caters to their cuisine based on crew mix. 

[sprint180]

Haven’t lost confidence in the cruise lines. I’ll be back on a ship as soon as I can. 

[mek]

On 4/9/2020 at 6:58 PM, subaru94 said:

Yes agree much stricter guidelines in regards to washing hands before entering buffet, Princess have not been the best in this area in comparison to either cruise lines.

There is a hand washing station on Grand Princess and when we on last September, some but not all of the passengers used it.  A staff member was there at the beginning of the cruise but disappeared later on and the hand washing was never really enforced , just suggested.

[bookmama22]

Cruising of the future will be entirely different. Just read an article in a business journal the other day in which the day of the large ships is likely to be over. Companies won't be building them and many current ships will be retrofitted to be downsized to allow more space not less between cabins. The buffets of the past are finished. You will have buffets that will be smaller in size and there will be servers so that passengers are not handling serving utensils. Cruise ships will not likely be able to dock any more in certain ports like Venice that have been over- touristed. One of the positive aspects of the worldwide shut-down has been the marked decrease in air pollution. 

 

Cruise ships cannot have it both ways. They want to be bailed out however they are not legally registered in the U.S. despite having their offices here and because of that they pay  minimal taxes on their revenue. Additionally they simply pay the environmental fees that they are charged with for environmental fractions as a cost of business. 

 

I am not a frequent cruiser so pretty irrelevant to me. I was hoping however to go on a river cruise for that experience within the next 2-3 years. River cruising in smaller ships will continue to grow in popularity although with more restrictions as only so many rivers and port space is limited. 

 

Stay tuned. 

[voljeep]

10 minutes ago, bookmama22 said:

I am not a frequent cruiser so pretty irrelevant to me

deleted ...

[paul28]

It's all about the money, 2 years from now people will be crammed in like they were back in February.  Only long term changes I see are better/longer cleaning between cruises, additional sickness declarations and maybe changes to the buffets where crew members serve everything similar to they do when a ship has a norovirus issue.  Spending money on improved air handing systems might make sense to do too.  Too much money in getting as many people on ships as possible to cut the number long term.

[rocklinmom]

Yes I would consider if the buffet had mandatory hand washing and crew members serving the food. Fresh silverware handed to you as you exit the buffet (wrapped in napkin) instead of sitting out on the tables. And disposable menus (or a large posted one) in the dining rooms. Also salt/pepper packets on the tables (instead of shakers) and the wrapped butter squares (instead of the open bowls of butter). I can think of a lot of easy ways to make the dining safer in general. 

[bookmama22]

If anyone has access to the article that appeared yesterday in Bloomberg Business about what may lie ahead for the cruise industry.. very enlightening and interesting. Don't forget Carnival Corporation, the parent company of Princess faces criminal investigation in Australia for the situation with one of the ships, the Ruby Princess I believe as well as both Costa and Princess facing thousands of lawsuits that have already been filed or will soon be filed as part of a class action from passengers and their treatment.

 

Just read a sad article about crew members who are still on ships including entertainers who are essentially stuck. No way to get home and many will not be paid past their current contract expiration leaving them jobless as well as homeless. Ships are using up their food stocks in inventory and waiting for resupply.

[gmjc2]

A fellow poster on another thread has a daughter on Ruby Princess in Australia. She has just been taken off the ship with other Americans/New Zealanders/British and Irish crew members. They have been put in quarantine. She will finally be sent home soon!  Unfortunately the Filipino and Indonesian crew are still on board.

.What an ordeal!

After all she has been through she will now be out of a job!

I guess we retirees should not complain about our boring self-isolation!

Edited April 24, 2020 by gmjc2

[PrincessLuver]

On 4/10/2020 at 12:12 PM, bookmama22 said:

How about eliminating buffets entirely? Personally, I have been on 6 cruises and have never had a meal at the buffet on any of them: Celebrity, Holland America, Princes or Norwegian. I barely  go to the buffet only for breakfast on disembarkation day to pick up a quick cup of coffee and have only had some salad from salad bar at the buffet for lunch. 

 

We are the same way.....have been on a number of 30 plus day cruises on Princess and maybe ate in the buffets less then 10 times.  Prefer eating meals in the MDR's, International Cafe, Speciality Restaurants or getting a cheese burger once and a while out by the pool.  Buffets have never looked appealing to us from the first time we were on a cruise and it did not appear to us that safe hygiene was always practiced around the food in buffets by passengers.  We never go to buffet restaurants on land either.

Edited April 24, 2020 by PrincessLuver

[echoshipmate]

I just don't get the aversion to buffets. We are elite status, so we cruise a lot. On the royal class ships the food in the buffet is amazing, wonderful choices, fresh, hot and tasty. As far as sanitation is concerned, we have always worn latex gloves while serving ourselves and always wash our hands when entering. We don't even leave our used gloves on the table, we take them with us and immediately throw them away. To my perspective, I can control the circumstances better myself than the menus,waiters, asst waiters and all the others who touch things I use in the MDR. Just another perspective for the " never buffet" people.

[Hlitner]

This buffet thing is a bit silly when it comes to COVID-19 but does make a lot of sense when it comes to Norovirus.  But lets keep in mind that HAL had previously implemented major changes to their buffet (very little self-serve) and they still have had their share of Norovirus outbreaks.  What cruise lines need to consider (if it is reasonable from an engineering perspective) is replacing their inadequate air filtering systems with HEPA filters.  HEPA does stop most viruses while the less expensive filters used throughout most ships do little to stop a virus.  Ever wonder why so many get "cabin cough" on cruises?  It has happened to DW a few times and it can weeks to clear up...sometimes with the help of steroids.   Cabin cough is apparently a viral URI and those viruses are aerosolized and spread through ships which is similar to most common way of spreading COVID-19.

 

Hank 

[npcl]

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

This buffet thing is a bit silly when it comes to COVID-19 but does make a lot of sense when it comes to Norovirus.  But lets keep in mind that HAL had previously implemented major changes to their buffet (very little self-serve) and they still have had their share of Norovirus outbreaks.  What cruise lines need to consider (if it is reasonable from an engineering perspective) is replacing their inadequate air filtering systems with HEPA filters.  HEPA does stop most viruses while the less expensive filters used throughout most ships do little to stop a virus.  Ever wonder why so many get "cabin cough" on cruises?  It has happened to DW a few times and it can weeks to clear up...sometimes with the help of steroids.   Cabin cough is apparently a viral URI and those viruses are aerosolized and spread through ships which is similar to most common way of spreading COVID-19.

 

Hank 

Spread of URI's on ship is usually passenger to passenger as they interact with each other in the various public spaces on the ship. The person coughing or sneezing in the theater, in the dining room, passing in the hall way, touching the railings, elevator buttons, talking to someone else at close distance in the lounges. Very few URI really get aerosolized.. Something like the measles yes, but unless you have people getting intubated in their cabins (the medical procedure that tends to create issues in hospitals) most URI is limited to the 6 - 12 foot spread and would not effectively spread through HVAC systems.  Though CPAPs can be problematic is spreading further than 6 to 12 feet..  If you were talking about something like measles maybe but most URI's not so much.

[bookmama22]

My thought about the buffet has always been that you don't know how long the food has been sitting out or who might have sneezed into the food. Plus for me at breakfast and I have only been on 3 Princess cruises,  the coffee is seemingly always fresher when you are served in the  main dining room and the service is most attentive. My other recent cruise has been on Norwegian and service in main dining room for breakfast was good and easy to be seated. Older cruise experiences were on Celebrity in 2002 and HAL in 2009. 

[mpk]

On 4/18/2020 at 8:08 AM, rocklinmom said:

disposable menus (or a large posted one) in the dining rooms.

 

Or just have the menu accessible via wifi.  And a few paper ones for those that don't have/don't want to use their phones.  Am I the only one that got up to use the sanitzer after handling the menu?  😛

 

 

7 hours ago, bookmama22 said:

the coffee is seemingly always fresher when you are served in the  main dining room

 

I used to rave about how the yogurt was better in the MDR breakfast than in the buffet.  Until the day I saw them scooping the yogurt from the same 6oz plastic containers onto a glass cup.  I learned that day that presentation and expectation greatly affects the taste of food.

[gmjc2]

On 4/24/2020 at 1:13 PM, bookmama22 said:

My thought about the buffet has always been that you don't know how long the food has been sitting out or who might have sneezed into the food. Plus for me at breakfast and I have only been on 3 Princess cruises,  the coffee is seemingly always fresher when you are served in the  main dining room and the service is most attentive. My other recent cruise has been on Norwegian and service in main dining room for breakfast was good and easy to be seated. Older cruise experiences were on Celebrity in 2002 and HAL in 2009. 

Actually I worry a lot about how long the food sits on a counter in the kitchen before it is brought out to my table in the MDR! Our experience is that the hot food is only warm and the cold food( such as Cheesecake ) is always warm.

In the buffet the food is kept at close to correct temps. We take food only from a fresh batch and spoon out from the bottom of the pan, never from the front. We re-sanitize after using the tongs and moving the chairs. 

Never had an illness in 55 cruises!

[AF-1]

gmjc2;  in my opinion cheesecake should be served at room temp.  It brings out the flavors of the cake.  Cheesecake should have hints of lemon, vanilla, cream cheese.  When it's served cold from the frig; it does not have a chance to expand the flavors.  Have a nice Sunday.  Cheers

[gmjc2]

1 minute ago, AF-1 said:

gmjc2;  in my opinion cheesecake should be served at room temp.  It brings out the flavors of the cake.  Cheesecake should have hints of lemon, vanilla, cream cheese.  When it's served cold from the frig; it does not have a chance to expand the flavors.  Have a nice Sunday.  Cheers

Taste is different I guess! To me and many others I have asked feel that it is slimy when warm. It should be very very cold and semi-solid. Not to mention that it is unsafe when not kept cold. Also. salad dressings and yogurt should be kept very cold. I take my own dressing and ask for yogurt straight from the fridge before I will eat it! The staff just love me!!!    LOL!!

[AF-1]

gmjc2;  I get it;  guess you don't like europe where yogurt in every country sits at room temp.  It is filled with good bacteria; so they let it sit out.  I think only the US keeps it refrigerated.